Some locals are enthusiastically for it, and others are adamantly against it. But residents of Gowanus, Brooklyn, generally agree on one thing: The Whole Foods opening this month will irrevocably change the neighborhood.

The 56,000-square-foot market will feature a 20,000-square-foot rooftop greenhouse and an in-house ramen chef; the new building is adjacent to the famous canal, designated a Superfund site by the federal government...